Alan Brown: I have a two-part question, if that is okay, Chair. Gary, coming back to tariff-free quotas, you suggested that different sectors should be able to have input. Do you have any concerns about devolved Administrations and their need for input, and about how, even if tariff-free quotas are agreed via subdivision, those quotas will be allocated to the different nations in the UK?Q

Alan Brown: Q  Does that that mean that we need greater clarity on how that will work?

Barry Gardiner: Q  I seek your thoughts on what seems to be an increasingly complex part of international trade agreements. As we have seen with Canada, negotiating partners are increasingly demanding that any potential difficulties with implementation, when devolved competence matters may be involved, are dealt with up front—for example, in the Canadian situation, the provinces were engaged right at the beginning of the process—and that there are assurances that the final agreed text of any agreement may be delivered. With that being the case, what is your view on the important role of consultation prior to agreements? Do you believe that the Bill sets out a suitable framework for such consultation? In addition, what would the implications be if the devolved Administrations had some measure of consent reserve that implied a veto on the implementation of our internationally agreed obligations? That is quite a complex question in two or three parts, bust your response will be of considerable interest to the Committee.

Martin Vickers: Mr Scott, in the notes we have been provided with, there is a section titled “Your views on the Bill”. It says that you recognise thatQ
“the government is committed to maintaining the existing trade relationships, effectively preserving the status quo.
You go on to say:
“It therefore seems that there is the potential to spend a significant amount of time, effort and expense to deconstruct the current processes”
and introduce a new process to bring us back to the same place. The way I read them, those two statements are somewhat contradictory. Surely what we are looking at in the Bill is the provision to ease that transition to provide the status quo?

Bill Esterson: What are your concerns are about consistencyQ ?

Gordon MacIntyre-Kemp: You have raised an important point. Business for Scotland represents mainly small and medium-sized enterprises in Scotland. We surveyed 758 businesses and asked for their opinions on how the trade deals in Brexit have been processed and handled. There were 199,000 employees, half of the companies exported, and 41% had at least one non-UK-born EU national on their staff. We found that only 8% of Scottish business owners trusted the UK Government to deliver a deal that works best for Scottish business. Interestingly enough, 76.81% to 77% thought that calling a halt to Brexit would be beneficial to the Scottish economy. I think you have got an issue there: business does not really understand what is going on and there is a great deal of uncertainty. There is more uncertainty and more negativity towards Brexit in Scotland because Scotland voted to remain, and therefore there is less confidence in business as a direct result of that; so you will see that follow through.
I think the period between the point where we are still talking about deals and the point where we can actually start looking at trade deals has to be used for a massive consultation exercise with all the sorts of bodies that David mentioned before, but right across the UK. If we are going to do that we need to be preparing for it now. We need to be talking about it now. We need to be saying “How are we actually going to deliver this?” Business for Scotland will be able to help, from a Scottish perspective, as much as we possibly can.